The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ I swear by this city -- 1 And you are free to live upon it, -- 2 And (the mystic ties of) parent and child;- 3 Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. 4 Does he, then, think that no one has power over him? 5 He boasts, "I have spent wealth abundant!" 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not made for him a pair of eyes?- 8 And a tongue and two lips, 9 and guided him on the two paths (of good and evil)? 10 But he would not try to ascend the steep uphill road... 11 and what shall teach thee what is the steep? 12 To free a neck (from the burden of debt or slavery), 13 Or the feeding on a day of hunger. 14 to an orphaned relative 15 or to a needy person in distress; 16 and being, withal, of those who have attained to faith, and who enjoin upon one another patience in adversity, and enjoin upon one another compassion. 17 These are the People of the Right Hand. 18 whereas those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages - they are such as have lost themselves in evil, 19 [with] fire closing in upon them. 20